Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday termed the UN terror listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a “great diplomatic victory for India”.
Hitting out at the Opposition, Jaitley said, “If India wins, all Indians win, but friends in Opposition feel they may pay a political price if they join the celebration.”
Jaitley told reporters that the current dispensation succeeded in an attempt the country has been making for the last 10 years, "but then they (opposition) says 'this is trivial, what is big in it'."
Addressing a press conference at the party office, he said there was a tradition in the country to speak in one voice on issues such as external affairs and national security but there has been a departure from it in the last few years.
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Emphasising that the labelling of Azhar as a global terrorist is a "great diplomatic achievement for India", the finance minister said, "If India wins, Indians win, but there are friends in opposition who are not celebrating it as they may have to pay a political price for it."
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was accompanying Jaitley at the press conference, attributed the success of sanctioning of JeM chief to the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"Terrorism shall not be tolerated and this declaration from the UN is noteworthy. It is the result of persistent measures taken by the external affairs ministry, under leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi," she said.
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In a huge diplomatic win for India, the United Nations on Wednesday designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist" after China lifted its hold on a proposal to blacklist him.
"Big, small, all join together. Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist in UN Sanctions list. Grateful to all for their support," India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.
A UNSC designation will subject Azhar to an assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo.
China removed its hold on the proposal, which was moved by France, UK and the US in the Security Council’s 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee in February just days after the deadly Pulwama terror attack carried out by the Pakistan-based terror outfit JeM.
